Nontraditional Applicant Timeline Advice

[nontraditionaljojo]

Hey everyone,

To give a bit of background about myself -- I graduated in 2020 with a degree in business. I have worked at two different internships and was part of the finance club in school. Long story short -- I didn't like what I was doing in my internships and was put off by a lot of the interviews I had for full time jobs. Needless to say, Covid definitely didn't help with my job prospects and I graduated without a job. I began temporarily working in a dental office in summer 2020 helping with the financial side of the practice. I loved the patient interaction, decided to do some shadowing and loved it. Fast forward to today -- I enrolled in a post-bacc and successfully completed my first semester with a 4.0. I took bio, chem and physics 1 and am currently taking the level 2 courses right now. I also received my dental assisting license and work part time.

My question is: What kind of timeline can I reasonably expect? I began studying for the DAT in January, which hasn't been too bad. I'm just now getting to the ochem, which I am attempting to teach myself. I am planning on taking ochem 1/2 over the summer and biochem/upper level bio courses in the fall. Additionally, I was hoping to take the DAT at the beginning of the summer and apply in August. I have been struggling with the ochem and feeling discouraged about taking the DAT before I take the classes in the summer. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

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[2thPirate🦷]

I think you should take the DAT after you finish your classes, especially since ochem has its on own section, unless you feel you are doing well enough to take it earlier. You can also go to the DAT sub-forum and ask what they think over there, they give out some good advice. I would suggest you apply in June when the application opens, that way schools just have to wait for your DAT to come through to fully evaluate your app, and its just better to apply as soon as possible. How much volunteering have you done, whether it was in undergrad or afterwards?

 

[nontraditionaljojo]

I think you should take the DAT after you finish your classes, especially since ochem has its on own section, unless you feel you are doing well enough to take it earlier. You can also go to the DAT sub-forum and ask what they think over there, they give out some good advice. I would suggest you apply in June when the application opens, that way schools just have to wait for your DAT to come through to fully evaluate your app, and its just better to apply as soon as possible. How much volunteering have you done, whether it was in undergrad or afterwards?

I've been using dat bootcamp/mike's videos to try and learn the material for the test. As for volunteering, I am definitely lacking. I currently have around 10 hours, but plan to have 50 hours by the time apply. Do you think dental schools will still consider my application if I have a majority of my prereqs done before applying in August?

 

[2thPirate🦷]

I've been using dat bootcamp/mike's videos to try and learn the material for the test. As for volunteering, I am definitely lacking. I currently have around 10 hours, but plan to have 50 hours by the time apply. Do you think dental schools will still consider my application if I have a majority of my prereqs done before applying in August?

Okay, I would shoot for 100 hours if you can, I know that's a tall task with COVID and school. And as long as you have your pre-reqs done before you matriculate schools shouldn't make too much of a fuzz. My first go around I hadn't finished two or three of the pre-reqs until that fall and still got an interview.

 

[nontraditionaljojo]

Okay, I would shoot for 100 hours if you can, I know that's a tall task with COVID and school. And as long as you have your pre-reqs done before you matriculate schools shouldn't make too much of a fuzz. My first go around I hadn't finished two or three of the pre-reqs until that fall and still got an interview.

Awesome. Thank you!